Four additional operators secure Schleswig-Holstein licence
Seven licences awarded to date - first batch to be issued since the Land's ruling party loses state election.
Bwin.party, Bet365, Betclic Everest subsidiary bet-at-home and Malta-licensed operator Tipico have become the latest companies to receive a Schleswig-Holstein licence, allowing them to offer sports betting in the jurisdiction with immediate effect, with licences for poker and casino expected to be awarded “in due course.”
The issuing of the six-year licences also makes the four companies the first to be approved since the ruling Christian Democratic Unionist party (CDU) lost a state election in the Land earlier this month, taking the total number of licensed egaming operators in the jurisdiction up to seven.
Less than a week before the CDU’s election failure, Betfair, mybet and Die NordwestLotto were announced as the first three operators to be granted a license in Schleswig-Holstein, and following today’s news another 24 operators are still awaiting news on their own sportsbook appilcations, with a further 17 having applied solely for poker and casino approval.
Despite the recent political change in the Land, which 47% of eGaming Review readers believed would bring about a delay in the market opening, bwin.party remained confident that its application would be approved and claimed in its first-quarter interim management statement last week that it expected a licence “shortly”.
Co-CEO Norbert Teufelberger said in a statement: “Schleswig-Holstein’s regulatory regime represents an important step in building a vibrant and competitive German online gaming market.
“This EU-compliant regime is a fundamentally important step to protect consumers and keep out black market operators in Germany,” Teufelberger added.
Despite the company’s share price dropping 16% after the other 15 Länder published restrictive draft egaming legislation in October last year, the awarding of a operating licence for Schleswig-Holstein has yet to have any effect on bwin.party’s share price, which is down 0.99% today.
These proposals, however, were criticised strongly by the European Commission in March this year, prompting Minister of Economy and deputy Prime Minister for the state of Lower Saxony Jörg Bode to claim the treaty had “failed in its present form”.
The news comes less than two weeks after bwin.party was among the latest list of operators to be added to the Belgian egaming blacklist, along with fellow Schleswig-Holstein licensee Betfair.
The operator had previously queried the compatibility of Belgian regulations with European law, although its January applications for land-based and online sports betting licences had appeared to signify a change of approach.
The awarding of the four new licences follows the first meeting of the Advisory Board, a body tasked with helping the Schleswig-Holstein interior ministry decide on which operators should be licensed.
Klaus Schlie, interior minister for the Land, emphasised the importance of the board, whose members include representatives from mybet (previously known as JAXX SE) and Die NordwestLotto, saying: “The very first meeting impressively high expertise and dedicated work of members of the Advisory Board has made clear. I’m sure the committee will make important contributions to the implementation of gambling legislation in Schleswig-Holstein.”
The eight members of the Advisory Board are:
“¢ Manfred Konitz-hair, State Sports Association of Schleswig-Holstein eV
“¢ Stefan Bock, Federation of Schleswig-Holstein eV
“¢ Christa Limmer, Action for Children and Youth Protection at the National Center for Schleswig-Holstein eV
“¢ Dr. Wolfgang Kröhn, Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Health of the Land Schleswig-Holstein
“¢ Karin Seidel, NordwestLotto Schleswig-Holstein GmbH & Co. KG
“¢ Mathias Dahms, JAXX SE, Kiel
“¢ Prof. Dr. Martin Nolte, German Sport University Cologne
“¢ Stephan Nietz, Schleswig-Holstein State Office of Criminal